


UN.real.ITY - Prologue: Endgame's End

by Koneia



Series: UN.real.ITY [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Romance, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-20 14:54:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3654549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koneia/pseuds/Koneia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Voyager’s journey in the Delta Quadrant was only simulation, part of an experiment of Section 31 to study long term missions under extreme pressure?</p><p>This is the prologue of my UN.real.ITY series, which will additionally comprise two main parts and an epilogue once it is finished. </p><p>Please note: I know what the end of the prologue looks like. But things are not always as they appear. ...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Malezita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malezita/gifts).



> This is it.  
> After almost three years work (with interruptions) the prologue and the first major part of my UNrealITY series is finally finished. 
> 
> A lot has happened during this time… Just to name a few: I met Malezita, Captain_Susanne and JoAryn in real life and our friendship got even deeper. I got pregnant and gave birth to my wonderful daughter. I proofed myself that life continues not only with a child, but that I am able to continue to find strength in writing. I grew as person and so did the story.
> 
> A lot of amazing people contributed to this story and I feel deeply indebted to them.
> 
> Above all I want to thank Malezita for staying along my side since the day the idea was born for this story and for her unwavering support especially in times when I stopped believing that I would be ever able to manage this whole project. Many heart’s blood, thoughts and ideas of hers went in this story and in a way it is as much hers as it is mine. We still think of a way how to show you the amazing fiddles she created to this story. Many many thanks also to JoAryn and Captain Susanne for their patience and never ending support with facts, information and hugs! Their invaluable research for even the tiniest bits helped me to wave all the connections the story relies upon. DrLizThirose was the one who gently guided me through J/C’s last minute in the prologue. I sweated blood. She too, I believe. Without Elorie Alton Captain Amasov wouldn’t have been part of the story. Many thoughts of the discussion with Gslovesvoyager about Gretchen went into this story and helped me to define her character. Then there is the wonderful KJaneway115, who agreed to the massive undertaking of betaing the prologue and the first main part of the UN.real.ITY series. English is not my mother tongue … Use your own imagination what this means to beta approximately 70k words! I still can’t express rightly how much her encouragement meant to me - and mostly it came in the darkest hours and helped me to get through it. Of course I tinkered with the story since I received her last correction. Therefore, all remaining mistakes are mine. Last but not least I want to thank with all my heart my beloved husband who always supported my writing and created many child-free hours so that I was able to work, and my beloved daughter, who taught me to understand Gretchen in a way no one else could have.
> 
> Koneia
> 
> Disclaimer:I still don't own Star Trek… No infringement is intended.

**2375, Badlands**

 

She looks so pale, so incredible pale. Whatever life is still pulsing through her veins will soon be gone.

Two minutes.

Two minutes more would save her. After running countless simulations it always comes to that … we are lacking two simple minutes when we could snatch her entirely out of the system to which she had been connected for years. One hundred and twenty seconds.

God, I am so tired. So unendingly tired.

“Mom.” Phoebes hand is warm on my arm, her voice soft. “You’ve done everything what was in your power. Let it be. Let her go. Let her die in peace.”

“Two minutes, Phoebe. She only needs two damn minutes.”

“Yes Mom, I know. You’ve achieved the impossible and almost all of her crew are going to be safe. It’s time to let her go. The captain always goes down with her ship. She would have wanted it like that.”

I can’t, no, I refuse to talk of my child as if she is already dead. Standing up from my chair, I head towards the door. “I’m not going to let Kathryn die because of two minutes. At least I can try to save Chakotay. There must be a way to change the algorithms.”

“Mom, please. He wouldn’t want you to do that. Remember, he promised her he would always be by her side. He wouldn’t want her to die alone.”

“Take care of Kathryn if I am too late.” My voice sounds strange, even to me. There is no need to see my younger daughter to know that she is silently crying.

The door springs open and I nearly bump into Alynna Nechayev, my guts clenching at the sight, nausea almost overcoming me.

“Gretchen. The shut down sequence has started,” she says quietly and without another word takes me into her arms.

So they’d entered the Borg transwarp hub. Already.

Time had run out and it is now up my algorithms to save all the surviving crew members from the _Equinox_ , the _Val Jean_ and _Voyager_.

One by one.

Except for the two surviving captains whose unbelievable strengths and sheer wills had kept them all alive for years. My daughter and the man she loves.

Alynna still holds me when the pain permeates the last remaining emotional barriers and my world after months of battling finally shatters into pieces.


	2. Chapter 2

**At the same time on _Voyager_.**

 

“Set a course, for home.”

Home. It was my voice who’d said this. Home. Around me people start cheering, crying, smiling. But to me it feels so unreal.

It feels … wrong.

We’re home. And Chakotay is at the helm.

Home and Chakotay at the helm.

Closing my eyes, I pinch my nose and try to breathe slowly. This has to be an overreaction – a simple overreaction to the overpowering circumstances - nothing to worry about. We’re home, I’m just overwhelmed and can’t apprehend the situation fully. Besides, I still can’t grab the idea of Chakotay dating Seven. Therefore the whole situation feels wrong. As simple as that. And I just have to ignore this nagging feeling in my gut … a feeling of deadly foreboding which I’ve always trusted while being in the Delta Quadrant …

The hell with it! Something is wrong.

My eyes snap open and I meet Chakotay’s stern but worried glance, the realization running ice cold along my spine.

“You feel it too,” I say quietly, barely permeating all the cheering on the bridge.

Instead of an answer he merely leaves the helm, nods towards Ensign Brooks who takes over with a puzzled face, and as he comes to stand in front of his seat beside me his eyes bore into mine. Immediately feeling calmer and more centered by having him at my side, literally and metaphorically, I stand up.

“Yellow alert,” I bark through the noise on the bridge, causing my crew to abruptly become silent. “Run a full systems check and a complete sensor sweep. Report anything unusual – even if it is only within the background noise. Something is wrong.”

“Captain?”

“You’ve heard the captain, Seven.” Chakotay’s voice is sharp, sharper than would have been necessary, but it extricates the crew from the paralysis my sudden announcement had brought them into, replacing it with concentrated action.

Reports drop in, one by one. Apart from the damage we’ve received everything appears normal. I start pacing, waiting for Seven’s report.

“Short range sensors don’t detect anything unusual, Captain. Long-range sensor scan progressi-“ Loud gasps on the bridge let me spin around. Seven’s place is empty.

“Computer, locate Seven of Nine.” Tuvok’s eerie calm tone sends goose bumps all over my body.

_*Unable to comply. There is no Seven of Nine aboard Voyager.*_

I meet Chakotay’s eyes. We were right- something is wrong. “Red alert. Computer, how did Seven of Nine leave Voyager?”

_*Unable to comply. Seven of Nine is no listed crew member aboard Voyager.*_

 

 

 

An hour later it is obvious that we are trapped within a nightmare. Meanwhile we’ve lost twenty two crew members. Almost simultaneously with Seven, the EMH, Icheb and Miral had disappeared and others had vanished in pairs afterwards. According to the computer they’d never been on board _Voyager_ nor are they mentioned in any database.

It is as if they never existed. Chakotay instructs the computer to monitor all personnel and inform us in regular intervals of the number of _Voyager’s_ current crew. The time periods between the disappearances seem to be constant at four minutes. We all work in grim silence to protect the remaining members and find the missing, but no solution is in sight.

Also the sensors start malfunctioning. Or at least I hope they are.

The alternative would mean that a blisteringly fast shrinking universe had swallowed whole galaxies within nanoseconds, well, virtually everything except _Voyager_. We are all well aware of the incident on the USS _Enterprise_ ten years ago when Dr. Crusher was trapped in a static warp bubble and lived in her own created reality where the _Enterprise_ crew vanished continuously. But a warp bubble in the size of _Voyager_?

Possible but unlikely.

And although the similarities of these incidents are stunning, there are also differences. Unlike the _Enterprise_ ’s crew in Beverly’s artificial reality, we all are aware of the people who had disappeared.

Biting my lip I meet my crew’s worried glances. Now what? With a high probability we are not caught in a warp bubble. Caught together in an alternative or virtual reality? Maybe. But how to prove that? All major systems claim to work on peak efficiency, so the readings should be real. That doesn’t prove anything. There is no phase variance, no hint of temporal distortions or anomalies, even the cosmic background radiation remains the same. We even checked if we were lucid day-dreaming.

Nothing.

Chakotay’s hand on my under arm stops my pacing, and without thinking I wrap my fingers around his underarm too; the pulse on my wrist beating erratically against the pulse of his. Linked together by our hands, our eyes lock. I can feel his body’s slight trembling, as I am sure that he can feel mine. Like many other things, our fear remains a secret between us; we are the command team and the crew relies on our strength. Drawing all the power I need from our short union, I squeeze his arm and break our light touch when I can see in his eyes that he is feeling better too.

One question remains. The question Beverly had asked in desperation, while she was trapped in the static warp bubble. A question I fear to be answered. I have troubles controlling my voice. “Computer. What is the nature of the universe?”

_*The universe is the intrepid class ship USS Voyager.*_

The silence on _Voyager_ ’s bridge is deafening, only to be interrupted by the computer’s next announcement.

_*Warning. Self-destruct in two hundred and eighty minutes.*_

It is then when all hell finally breaks loose.

 

 

 

I never would have thought that I would say this, but we’ve given up fighting the inevitable. There is nothing we can do. Even the computer doesn’t react to commands or external manipulations any more. We are trapped. Trapped on our own ship.

What is left of the crew, my senior staff, is assembled on the bridge. Six people out of a crew of one hundred and forty two. If the rate of disappearing remains stable as it has been for the last few hours, the next two of us will dematerialize in a minute, and then two more only four minutes later.

The ship will self-destruct in seven minutes from now. It doesn’t need a mathematician to calculate that the last two of us will cease their lives on the count down’s end and not by simple vanishing. With a high probability it will be Chakotay and me, as the disappearances seem to follow the command chain. We are all silent.

Huddled in my command chair, B’Elanna reaches for Tom’s hand and, kneeling besides her, he tenderly kisses her head. They’ve both matured so much during our journey. Harry stands besides them, calm and composed. He, too, has gone a long way from an insecure green ensign to a mature, strong man and capable officer. I’ve never felt so proud of them. Tuvok hasn’t spoken for a long time, but his peaceful tranquility soothes us all. Chakotay is at my side, as he had promised long time ago, the warmth of his body warming my heart. Although I stand alone, I don’t feel lonely.

There is no need for words. We’ve all said our thanks.

On Tom’s and Harry’s disappearance, B’Elanna only closes her eyes, her grief descending upon us all. Chakotay squeezes my arm and I nod, knowing that she needs his quiet support more than I do now. Walking towards my seat, he gently embraces her. I’m surprised when I feel Tuvok’s hand on my shoulder and as my eyes seek his, I’m unable to stop the silent tears dwelling in my eyes. In a short time my oldest friend will be gone too.

His gaze is severe, bores into my soul. “Do not waste your remaining time.” He pauses. “Live long and prosper, Kathryn.” Our eyes remain locked until he vanishes, the loss of his warm hand on my shoulder the only proof that he has ever existed. I stare at the floor.

Don’t sacrifice a present for a future which may never happen. When there is no future, only the present remains.

I’m not going to sacrifice the little of my present life which is left. The decision is suddenly so easy.

Meeting Chakotay’s eyes, I see that he has come to the same conclusion. Seven, Jaffen, the Delta Quadrant, protocols, our recent almost irresolvable differences … beyond irrelevant. Superficial.

Only the two of us remain.

“I love you.” A phrase only hours ago unthinkable, now the only important thing to say.

“I know,” he answers, closing the last distance between us. “I love you too.”

There is no awkwardness in our first kiss or our bodies touching. It’s gentle, loving, feels surprisingly familiar. As if we’ve only decided to expand our way of communication. His soft kisses along my jaw towards my neck send shivers along my spine and goose bumps all over my body. I find myself pressing against him, uncontrollable lust and desire surging up within me. I fumble with his uniform.

Skin.

I need to feel his skin.

Gasping at my unexpected action, he pulls me away and takes my head in his hands, our breathing erratic against each other, his eyes intense. Whatever he’s seen in mine, his lips are immediately again on mine, this time hard, demanding. Tongues exploring unknown territory. Nothing is left of the tenderness from a few moments before. I don’t mind. With desperation never felt before in my life I tear at his uniform, drawing him nearer to me. Mindless, we stumble across the bridge, frantically trying to eliminate the barriers dividing us. Something abruptly stops me against my back, presses me even harder against him. We break our kiss.

The helm.

_*Warning. Self-destruct in thirty seconds …*_

I stare at him in horror, his eyes mirroring my fear of never experiencing our mutual joining.

The pants.

We pull apart. With trembling fingers, I push mine down and he follows my example, never breaking eye contact. As he heaves me onto the helm, I spread my legs to welcome him. Finally. After all these years. On feeling his warm sex touching mine, I am flooded with emotions, almost losing myself. Love, regret, sadness, joy, desire. Tenderly he cups my cheek, caressing me with his thumb to calm me. I love him so much. How could I have ever forgotten?

Our breaths come and go in unison.

_*Warning. Self-destruct in ten seconds …*_

“Kathryn?”

_*Nine …*_

His eyes asking for permission for what he is about to do.

_*Eight …*_

“Yes.”

_*Seven …*_

There is no single doubt in me.

_*Six …*_

And while I look into his beautiful brown eyes,

_*Five …*_

he joins us for the first and last time, pushing into me in one movement. Pain and happiness flooding me simultaneously.

_*Four …*_

After seven years of dancing around each other, we finally did it. And it feels so right. So incredibly right.

_*Three …*”_

“I love you.” We both whisper in unison, smiling with tearful eyes at each other.

_*Two …*_

And as our lips softly touch again and a boundless peace and fulfillment washes over my soul,

_*One …*_

the universe turns white.

 

 

 

TBC in the next part which will be posted in the next days


End file.
